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Original Research: Exploring the Use of Passive vs. Active Insulin Safety Pen Needle Devices in a Pediatric
Brenna Frankish1, Kristina Amplo, Rachael Townsend
1Brenna Frankish is the clinical learning programs coordinator at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, where Kristina Amplo is the campus education coordinator and Christina Calamaro is the director of nursing research and evidence-based practice for nursing and allied health. Rachael Townsend is the pediatric program manager at Wellstar Health System in Marietta, GA. Tonya Miller-Roberts is a clinical psychologist at the Atlanta VA Medical Center in Decatur, GA. Akane Fujimoto Wakabayashi is a graduate research assistant at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. This study was supported through funding from Owen Mumford, Ltd, which also supplied the active safety pen needle devices used. Contact author: Brenna Frankish, brenna.frankish@gmail.com . The authors have disclosed no potential conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise.
Insights
Nurses preferred active safety pen needles (SPNs) over passive SPNs for pediatric insulin delivery due to improved ease of use and confidence in accurate dosing. This suggests active SPNs are a valuable advancement for pediatric diabetes care.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Endocrinology
- Medical Device Technology
- Nursing Practice
Background:
- Insulin pens are crucial for pediatric diabetes management, particularly for those not using insulin pumps.
- Safety pen needle (SPN) devices reduce needlestick injuries and pathogen exposure.
- Traditional passive SPNs present challenges in confirming accurate and complete insulin dose administration.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate nurses' perceptions of an active SPN device compared to a passive SPN device for pediatric subcutaneous insulin injections.
- To assess the feasibility of implementing the Unifine SafeControl active SPN device in a pediatric setting.
Main Methods:
- A feasibility study involving 49 registered nurses (RNs) on a pediatric inpatient unit.
- RNs completed pre- and post-device change surveys comparing passive and active SPN devices.
- Daily evaluations assessed the ease of teaching active SPN device use to pediatric patients and caregivers.
- Informed consent was obtained from 132 pediatric patients with diabetes.
Main Results:
- High overall satisfaction reported for the active SPN device (87.8%) compared to the passive SPN device (52.7%).
- Nearly all RNs found the active SPN device easy to use (98.6%) and felt confident in delivering the full dose (93.9%).
- Teaching patients (98.2%) and caregivers (96.4%) how to use the active SPN device was reported as easy or very easy.
Conclusions:
- Nurses' positive perceptions of the active SPN device highlight its potential for improved patient safety and care.
- The active SPN device demonstrated superior ease of use, dose administration confidence, and teaching efficiency compared to the passive device.
- The findings support wider adoption of active SPN devices in hospital settings and suggest further research.
Background:
Insulin pens are the mainstay of insulin delivery in the pediatric population, especially among patients unable to use an insulin pump. Safety pen needle (SPN) devices have been embraced by both nurses and patients because they limit the risks of needlestick injury and exposure to blood-borne pathogens. With the commonly used traditional passive SPN device, however, it can be difficult to observe that the dose has been accurately or fully administered.
Purpose:
The purpose of this study was to determine nurses' perceptions about the feasibility of using an active SPN device (specifically the Unifine SafeControl insulin pen needle), compared with the currently used passive SPN device, in pediatric patients ages 21 years or younger who require subcutaneous insulin injections.
Methods:
This feasibility study was conducted on a pediatric inpatient unit at 1 pediatric hospital in the southeastern United States. A total of 49 RNs completed both a pre-device change survey regarding the currently used passive SPN device and a post-device change survey regarding the active SPN device. The RNs also completed daily evaluations assessing the ease of teaching patients and their caregivers how to use the active SPN device. Participation consent was also obtained for 132 pediatric patients with diabetes who were admitted to the unit.
Results:
The majority of the RNs (87.8%) reported overall satisfaction with the active SPN device, compared to about half (52.7%) who reported overall satisfaction with the passive SPN device. Almost all the RNs (98.6%) reported that the active SPN device was easy or very easy to use. Nearly all the nurses (93.9%) reported feeling completely or very confident that the active SPN device allowed them to deliver the full intended dose; and nearly all reported that it was easy or very easy to teach patients (98.2%) and their caregivers (96.4%) how to use the active device.
Conclusions:
As frontline workers in patient care, nurses can lead the innovation and development of new treatment approaches, protocols, and equipment. This nurse-led study explored the nurses' perceptions about the feasibility of a new active SPN device versus the passive SPN device in terms of safety, ease of use, ease of and confidence in dose administration, and ease of teaching device use to pediatric patients and their caregivers. The RNs' clear preference for the active over the passive SPN device suggests that the newer, active devices warrant more widespread use in hospital settings, with further research also recommended.
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